1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to the art of electrical connectors, and more particularly, to an electrical connector used for connecting a flexible printed circuit or a flexible flat cable.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of flexible printed circuits are widely used in electronic devices, such as notebooks, mobile phones and fax machines. Various electrical connectors are adapted for connecting corresponding flexible printed circuits. There is a conventional flexible printed circuit connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,883. The connector includes an insulated housing, a plurality of first electrical contacts and second electrical contacts and an actuator. Each first electrical contact comprises a first arm portion having a pivot portion at an end thereof. The actuator includes a concave portion engaging with the pivot portions of the first electrical contacts. The first electrical contacts are secured in the housing in predetermined pitches, and the actuator is mounted to the housing via the engagement of the concave portion and pivot portions of the first electrical contacts. When the actuator is set in a first position, a flexible printed circuit is inserted into the housing, with zero insertion force or low insertion force, and then the actuator is rotated from the first position to a second position for pressing the flexible printed circuit against the first and the second electrical contacts. However, in the rotational process above mentioned, the actuator is easily broken off the housing, that is, the concave portion are rotated away from the pivot portions of the first electrical contacts. With this arrangement, the connection between the connector and the flexible printed circuit is so unreliable that it hardly reaches the standard which some electronic devices such as notebooks, mobile phones and fax machines require.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,346 discloses another type of flexible printed circuit connector. The connector includes an insulated housing, a plurality of electrical contacts received in the housing and an actuator mounted to the housing. Each electrical contact comprises a support arm defining a pivot portion at an end thereof. The actuator comprises a plurality of cam portions received in the pivot portions of the electrical contacts. When a flexible printed circuit is inserted into the housing, the actuator is rotated from a first position to a second position and presses a connecting end of the flexible printed circuit against the electrical contacts via the rotation of the cam portions in the pivot portions of the electrical contacts, the electrical connection between the flexible printed circuit and the connector is established. However, for the structure of the cam portion, the actuator is rotated from the first position to the second position around a changeable axis of rotation, so it is possible that the actuator is moved slidingly in the rotation. This arrangement of the actuator induces that the flexible printed circuit is not secured in a predetermined position, and the electrical contacts connects with the connecting end of the flexible printed circuit unreliably.
Hence, a flexible printed circuit connector with an improved actuator is highly desired to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art.